Canada owes residential school survivors and their families “more than remembrance,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Wednesday as Canadians marked the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
“We owe them action. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action remain a roadmap for that work,” Carney said in a statement.
Beginning in the 19th century, more than 150,000 Indigenous children in Canada were separated from their families and communities and sent to church-run, government-funded residential schools where abuse, malnutrition and inadequate health care were rampant.
“The federal government established and sustained this system, and Canada bears responsibility for the profound and enduring harm it caused,” Carney said.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded in its landmark 2015 final report that the school system was a central element of a state-backed policy of cultural genocide.
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The establishment of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30 was among the recommendations in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report.
“More than 6,600 Survivors and witnesses came forward before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to share painful realities Canada had too long ignored. Their courage ensured that Canada listened, remembered, and reflected,” Carney said.
Governor General Louise Arbour called for “honest dialogue, ongoing learning and concrete action.”
“Many Canadians, myself included, did not grow up knowing this history. Facing it can be painful and unsettling, but understanding the truth is essential to building a more just future,” Arbour said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We cannot change the past, but we can choose how we move forward,” she added.
The work of reconciliation “begins with listening with empathy to First Nations, Inuit and Métis voices,” she said.
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CBC/Radio-Canada, APTN and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation are hosting their annual Remembering the Children event on Parliament Hill.
The 90-minute ceremony will feature speeches from residential school survivors, elders and Indigenous leaders. Performances by Tia Wood, Soleil Launière, Silla and Adrian Sutherland are also scheduled.
Guests and participants are encouraged to bring a pair of children’s shoes to place at the front of the stage to honour the children who attended residential schools.
Separate events to mark the day are taking place across the country, including in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Iqaluit.
Carney is scheduled to speak at an event in Edmonton.
“On this day, we gather to honour every child taken by the residential school system and to stand in solidarity with those who survived it. As denialist voices seek to distort the past, our collective responsibility to uphold the truth is more important than ever,” said Stephanie Scott, the executive director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
“Honouring these children means facing our history with unwavering honesty and ensuring that ‘Never Again’ is not just a phrase, but a binding commitment backed by meaningful action.”
Canadian Heritage Minister Marc Miller said the day is an opportunity for non-Indigenous and Indigenous Peoples to come together and reflect on the legacy of residential schools.
“Reconciliation is a responsibility we all share, and by connecting with each other and our history, we can help build a future grounded in understanding, respect and hope.”
— with files from Canadian Press
Not a lot of support from this sham holiday or FNs in general as per the comments below.
We paid them between 10k and 25k each. Even if they went to regular school.
We owe them noting. Liberals need to quit giving them our money.
Gimme more money day! I’ll never ever never give two F’s about what THEY have to say!
@ben, take a look a the comments, nobody gives two craps about your opinions or Gimme more money day
It is odd how “We owe them action.” translates to, “Let’s provide money.” in the Liberal world.
Has anyone ever added up how much $$$ the indigenous have received thru welfare, grants, gifts etc in from the provinces and federal goverment? In the past 60 years? I bet it’s a lot.
I agree with Anonymous. WE OWE THE INDIGENOUS NOTHING. A welfare society who refuses to work. Pays no taxes. This has been going on for decades with no intention of stopping. If anything it gets worse. They want more money every year, plus they want recognition before every sporting event, gathering etc..now they have infiltrated the schools across Canada. omg. Where does it stop ?
All these lies fabricated by someone using a piece of machinery that looks like cross between a lawnmower and a photcopier in a Kamloops school where they new there were graves because they neglected to maintain those graveyards for years never were unmarked just neglected. Give us real evidence or shut it down once and for all.
100 dollar boom boom. Me love you long time.
We owe them nothing. They live off the Canadian taxpayer. They owe us the truth in Kamloops. Dig and prove the doubters wrong or give back the millions they took.
I can’t help but notice that Carney is starting to do alot of the same things that Trump does. Mainly say something completely false as if it is an undeniable fact. And just like the Trump supporters, the LPC supporters just lap it up and don’t bother to think for themselves. People on the left and right are strangely similar to eachother. Freedom for them means freedom from thought and responsibility.
We owe them nothing
@Ben’s Momma 1014am. You don’t have the smarts to respond, so you personally attack.
Let’s have the truth and start digging in Kamloops.
How many bones were found?
Liberals have pretended to take “action” since 2015. Carney stating more action doesnt make it so.
Firnat constantly having their collective hand out is not helping them become contributing members of society!
I know a good action, digging.
I immigrated from Angelina to Canada in 2005. This is such a stupid “day off”. Now the conquered want to make present day Canadians feel guilty. I don’t observe this “holiday” and think it should be cancelled.
Truth: nor all natives were abused at residential school.
Truth: the native parents were the ones that took their children to school, because they wanted them to learn. It was and is a treaty right to get free elementary education. – they were not taken by the schools
Truth: Most native children were treated better than at home. They were clothed, and fed. The entitled did not want to wear the free school uniform. – that is why we celebrate school uniform day by wearing orange school uniforms.
Truth: the only children who did not return from school died of smalllpox or other diseases. – There are no unknown graves. Everyone was documented. There was better mortality rates at the schools, than on the land.
Truth: Most of us graduated. Why are we using the misleading term ‘survivors’? Most of them dropped out once they learned enough to survive in the new world.
How many of them are reconciling to the truth? We need to get our leaders to quit with the disinformation.
Ben, hurry up home! I have to head out to my early shift turning tricks on Hastings.
Carney is ALL talk and No action. Sloganeering at its finest.
@Ben.
Your ancestors treated F.N. horribly.
You need to sell everything you own and give the money to F.N.
Then for the rest of your life,half of all your income and anything you gain must go to F.N. for reconciliation otherwise you are nothing more than a virtue signaling hypocrite.
You will need to show receipts here for the actions you take for reconciliation.
Fortunately my ancestors didn’t arrive here until the mid 1950s and had no interactions with the natives other than common friendship and conversation so I do not need to reconcile anything.
Get busy Ben !!! Time to pay for the actions of your ancestors!
Is Trudeau going surfing in Tofino?
Every year I have less and less respect for this national day of guilt-tripping the whites, who have easily been a net benefit to the world. How about providing some “concrete” evidence of your accusations?
@Ben. No. We don’t need more “education” or really would be indoctrination. This is not a priority for most Canadians.
Perpetual victimhood is never a good thing. Time to stop making excuses. There seems to be no resolve with Canadian FNs.
Survivors have provided extensive testimony about children who died and burial sites associated with residential schools. Ignoring or discounting their claims after my ancestors treated them so horribly would lack basic human empathy. It’s clear in my opinion from the comments that the public requires more education surrounding the topic of First Nations.
It was Harper who set up the Commission. It was Trudeau that knelt at a field that actually contained no unmarked graves of children, and then forced the nation to lower our flags to half mast for months.
Show me some kind of evidence???
Canada is a joke
FNs need to be honest with themselves and face the “truth”. They need to stop making excuses for their own problems.
Another holiday for Carney Liberal federal government workers. Disgraceful waste of money.
Nobody cares.
I agree, nothing more concrete than digging up them bones! SHOW US THE BONES!!!
Carney knows nothing about truth. He lied about the Gordie Howe Bridge Deal and why he walked away from the negotiating table with the USA.
They just want money not truth. They all drive expensive suvs yea they are hurting. No job but 80k ride.
A day that Trudeau should have never capitulated to. He will go surfing in Tofino.
I don’t plan to do anything
Let’s start with some concrete truth. We can’t reconcile when the truth is hidden.
Wow, two comments citing truth and no go. F*ck the FN and their lies and F*ck Global and its censorship!
So, I see why there are no comments here. Censorship. Why bother having comments open if truth is going to be censored? Not everyone believes in the scam but we are not allowed a voice.
I did nothing to these people yet my life is affected by them and what they do to my country.
You wonder why the hate. It is generated and fanned by media and government alike. Every censored word makes it worse.